Bickerstaff On A Salvage Mission

Coach By Default Pushing Nuggets

He'd had enough during five seasons in Seattle and had comfortably settled into his role of reconstructing the Nuggets.

He'd assembled a nice nucleus in Denver and the Nuggets were the rave of the playoffs when they upset the top-seeded Sonics and pushed the Jazz to seven games last spring.

But rather than progress this season, the Nuggets unraveled.

Power forward LaPhonso Ellis was lost for the season with a kneecap injury. The team was inconsistent. Coach Dan Issel resigned. The team faltered under his replacement, Gene Littles.

The season threatened to become a gigantic step backward if someone didn't do something.

So Bickerstaff recently left the front office and returned to the bench, where he will be for tonight's game against the Heat.

As a coach, Bickerstaff has harped on defensive intensity and consistency of effort. The Nuggets have responded with three wins and two narrow losses - to conference powers Seattle and Utah - in five games.

"We're trying to right the ship," Bickerstaff said. "Basically, what we're going to do, and I know it's an old cliche, we're just taking them one at a time and trying to focus on the immediate."

There is little else they can do.

Denver trails eighth-place Sacramento by 41/2 games and faces a stout challenge to reach the playoffs.

"I think early, from Bernie on down to our trainers, we were very frustrated knowing we had a taste of what we felt would come in the future," Ellis said.

The downward spiral threatened to swallow the season and erase the good feelings of last spring.

"It's just a really bad scene because all the negatives start to come out when you're losing," Ellis said.

The players view Bickerstaff's move to the bench as a positive development.

"The difference is Bernie brought discipline," center Dikembe Mutombo said. "Everybody is focusing on what we're trying to accomplish and everybody's trying to do what he's asking."

As for this season, the Nuggets maintain it isn't too late to push into the playoffs.

"What people forget is Denver made a great run in the playoffs last year, but they didn't upset the top seed by being the No. 2," rookie Jalen Rose said, reminding that the Nuggets have five games remaining against Sacramento and Portland. "To me, we're in control of our own destiny and I don't think it's too late."